


Bleeding Hearts

by Mishafer



Series: Saturating the Reibert tag with Actual Reibert Fics [20]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23453344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mishafer/pseuds/Mishafer
Summary: A collection of stories and snippets from the universeBloodstreamtakes place in. Non-linear. Basically whatever I feel like writing up for the verse. Shippy and non-shippy stories alike!Possible warnings added per chapter and tags updated as needed.
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Series: Saturating the Reibert tag with Actual Reibert Fics [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/738039
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Bleeding Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> The first thing I've posted this year WOW shame on me. 
> 
> Also Ghost is not abandoned. Writer's block has been kicking my ass so it's been collecting dust but the first draft of the chapter is finished just needs its usual heavy editing. Hoping posting this will give me some much needed motivation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reiner surprises Bertholdt with a gift that makes him feel human again.
> 
> Rated M for suggestive content ;)

Reiner has had a secret project for a month. Working with admittedly creepy samples of Bertholdt's skin, and combining various herbs and witchy woo with normal topical ointments like glycerin. He figured if it fails, then there's no let down as Bertholdt is unaware of his endeavours. 

But today he can say his new invention works. Reiner bounces on his feet after the second, third, and fourth test all prove successful. Memories of Bertholdt's rasp voice dripping with sadness as he mourned the loss of sun tore at Reiner's heartstrings. As someone who loves beach-going he can't fathom a life without the sun beating on his face. But now he's created a sunblock for a vampire. 

Reiner skips down the candle-lit corridor to Bertholdt's lavish bedroom. Bertholdt lounges with a book and is draped in a plum-colored silk shirt and slick black pants. That gorgeous man makes Reiner want to write poetry. He could dedicate paragraphs alone marveling over his perfect nimble fingers. Bertholdt is the kind of man who's inspired famous playwrights, sculptors, and authors for centuries. A Shakespearian masterpiece torn from the pages and gazing back at him with glowing eyes.

Reiner's chest puffs out. "I have a surprise for you." Bertholdt idly looks up from his leather-bound book. Reiner rubs his overworked hands together. "Remember those tissue samples I took from you? I've been working on a topical cream." He waits to see if Bertholdt is catching on, but he remains a marble sculpture. "It has a combination of your typical sunblocks, then herbs like vervain and lavender. In my tests your skin remained in the direct sun for thirty minutes until it began to burn." A smile tugs at his lips. "You can be in the sun again." He holds up his hands. "Not permanently though. The skin will have to rest before you can reapply and go back out."

He stays a flawless sculpture as he absorbs the info. Then shuts his book and sets it aside. "You didn't have to do that."

"Sure I did." He gestures a thumb behind him. "Wanna come try it out?" 

He shakes his head. "You really didn't have to..."

"Just come on." 

Bertholdt rises to his feet and follows Reiner back down the hall to the lab. Scattered herbs and jars of creams and oils fill the table. In its center sits a dish with a popsicle stick in a loose white cream. 

"There's an oil in with it so you gotta mix it real well before applying." Reiner stirs the cream as Bertholdt hovers behind him and watches. "Hand?"

Bertholdt offers his hand and Reiner dabs on a dollop of cream, then massages it into the silky skin. He guides him to the tightly-drawn curtains and parts them in the middle. A sliver of afternoon sun severs the room. Bertholdt shrinks back but Reiner urges his hand into the sun's ray. Reiner watches Bertholdt's face. The first few seconds, his features are tense. The next ten seconds his eyes widen. At thirty seconds his lips part in a smile of wonder. By the full minute his chin trembles as his skin remains unburned and illuminated by the stripe of light. 

"What do you think?" Reiner asks. 

A tear glistens and he blinks it away. His head lowers and his eyes obscure. "You really did this for me."

"Yeah. It's only fair."

_And I wanted to see you smile._

Bertholdt's Adam's apple bobs. "I want to feel it all over me. Is there enough for that?"

"Should be." 

Bertholdt's free hand undoes the top of his shirt and Reiner truly gets what he means. "Let's go outside."

Reiner fetches the sunblock and they follow the hall to the dining room that leads outside. It's a picturesque sunny day. Bertholdt's backyard boasts a rainbow of different flowers, myriad of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and a blooming cherry tree. A round stone path hugs a gushing fountain. A moonflower vine hugs a tall fence that blocks all peering eyes. 

Reiner's hold on the jar of cream tightens as he watches Bertholdt unbutton his shirt. It's always a thrill watching him undress. Even more so outdoors as he can see every dip and curve of his chest and subtle rise on his stomach. He starts to offer the jar when Bertholdt begins to undo his shoes, then pants... 

_When he meant 'all over me' he really meant it..._

Reiner licks his lips as Bertholdt slides down his underwear. Feeling awkward about his own tightening underwear in broad daylight.

Bertholdt finishes laying his clothes on the picnic table to his left. Then bats his eyelashes. "You want to help me apply it?"

"God, yes."

Bertholdt giggles a little. That beautiful sound Reiner spends as much time trying to elicit as he does researching immortality. He takes a helping of sunblock and massages it across Bertholdt's broad shoulders and down to the small of his waist. Goosebumps rise on his flesh despite the balmy temperature. Bertholdt swabs the cream across his face and then his torso. Stealing the opportunity to blanket it across his loins. But Reiner regains the lead and lathers it onto his backside with a firm squeeze. Earning a little yelp. Reiner can't contain a grin.

His mile-long legs take even more time. Making Reiner feel like a worshipper at his altar when he's kneeling to apply it on his ankles. Monarchs are ridiculous. A vampire monarch even more so—they both agree on that no matter its necessity in New Orleans. But Reiner wants to worship at Bertholdt's feet. Understanding why the ancients would sculpt and build palaces for their emperors. 

Hell, Reiner would build a new city with his bare hands just for him and Bertholdt to live in forever.

Lavender wafts into his nose from the salve. Its extract taken from the same flowers that sway in the breeze. Bertholdt's toes curl against the stone patio before stepping forth. Emerging from the safe shade of the awning and into the grass and blazing sun. Again, his muscles constrict, but after a few moments he relaxes. Breathes a soft sigh and contentedly closes his eyes. Reiner is by his side, mesmerized by something he's never seen: Bertholdt's skin kissed by the sun. Turning a deeper shade of tan to add to his already warm-hued tone from his feeding the night before.

Reiner has never been in the company of a beautiful naked man before and been unable to tear his eyes way from his face. 

Bertholdt's cheeks glisten in the afternoon light as he raises his arms to greet the sun's rays with glee. "You have no idea how good this feels..."

"I'm glad."

His attention shifts to his garden. "You know, I've tended those plants for years, but I've never gotten to feel the same sun they do."

Reiner moves in front of him. His hands curl around the back of his neck and he gazes up at him. "You deserve it." Bertholdt's eye contact wavers. " _Yes_ , you do. And I'll keep on looking for cures for you."

"Reiner..." The edge of pain in his voice makes Reiner nearly flinch. "If you cure me, somehow, I'll die in several decades. And if you achieve immortality, you'll live forever."

Reiner knows this. He's known it ever since they began doing whatever is it they're doing. When this began, he was thinking in the short term. A fun, sexy tryst and some gained knowledge and he'll be on his way. But the truth is he's fallen deliriously, helplessly in love with Bertholdt Hoover. Even in that moment, the end of a mortal life so far ahead it defies comprehension, the thought of one of them growing old and the other living forever twists his heart into knots. 

Reiner's throat aches. "I know."

"It's okay. If I return to human I'll be hunted anyway. I've made a great deal of enemies who want my head on a platter."

"I'll kill every one of them," Reiner says, shocked by his knee-jerk reaction. 

He shakes his head. "You don't need to jump into the crossfire of my sordid past."

"I will if I have to."

Bertholdt's hands encircle his waist. "I'll still try to stop you though."

They stand in silence a moment, basking in the warmth.

"So where does this leave us?" Reiner asks, meeting his eyes again.

"For now... just standing in the sun together."


End file.
